New PT - Initial Impressions

[marrt]

Since I’ve had my PT425 about a week now, I thought I would post some observations.

Background
I have about 3.2 acres of lawn and pasture. There are some small hills and a few rough areas. The lot has no trees and my primary tractor activity will be mowing. I looked at both the PT and BX2000 and eventually decided on the PT for the following reasons/benefits: ability to have front mounted attachments, heavy duty construction, maneuverability of the articulated design, full time four wheel drive, larger operator’s station, and the quick attach system. Unfortunately, I gave up the legendary Kubota diesel engine and availability of a strong dealer network and ready resale market.

The Tractor
I purchased the PT425 with the large bucket, the small bucket with teeth, the post hole digger with 18” auger, the fork lift attachment, the small steel trailer, the potato plow, the 60” mower, and the tiller.

Positives
Many of the concerns that I struggled with initially turned out to be non-issues. For example, I was originally worried about using the mower over rough terrain and the quality of cut, since this is my primary usage requirement. I find that the mower is very comfortable on rough terrain and the cut quality far exceeded my expectations. Having the mower in front of the operator is absolutely outstanding and the rear discharge means no ugly windrows. Also, I am impressed with the overall traction and the digging ability of both the large and small buckets. I can easily get a full scoop of dirt in either bucket, even though I had no previous FEL experience. I got the bar tires and I’m glad I did. They have incredible traction (I can even stall the tractor before they spin in some circumstances) and do not damage the lawn at any speed. Also, I’m glad I choose the 425 over the 422. I find that with the 60” mower, there’s certainly not a lot of reserve power on hills. Also, the ROPS provides a great “hand hold” over rough terrain. Overall, I would also say that the ride is better than I expected as well.

The Bad
I won’t dwell on the negatives hear, since I have another thread open on this subject, except to say that I have had a number of small problems. The hour meter did not work, the drive peddle had a bolt come completely off, the pin-in-slot brake was not adjusted properly and was trying to engage even in the off position, I blew a fuse to the fan for some, as yet, unknown reason, and my battery leaked for some reason and took off quite a bit of paint. Even though I have only 3 hours on the tractor, I’ve already spent more than 5 hours working on it and, at the moment, it is unusable due to the battery leak problem. One thing's for sure: I need to Chalkleyize this machine as soon as possible. Hydraulic and Engine Oil Temp Gauges as a minimum (Mark, what else?).

The Jury is Still Out
I’m not that concerned about the small quality control problems I’ve had to date (hey, even the bota’s have had a few problems) but I am concerned about the overheating problem, which I believe precipitated the battery leak. I don’t know what caused it, I don’t know how to fix it, and I don’t have the time to trouble shoot a new tractor. This is the one big drawback to purchasing a PT. If you do have a problem, there no calling the dealer to come get it and fix it. Sure, you can get phone support from PT, but it’s your time and effort, in the end, that will fix the tractor. I’ll keep you updated.

 

[duane]

Sorry about your initial problems. I would definitely check the charging circuit voltage. I suspect a voltage regulator problem that boiled your battery and blew your fuse. I think you will find Power Trac to be very helpful.

Duane

 

[PTRich]

When I first purchased my tractor the parking break would partialy engage once in a while producing a clicking noise, I would just move the lever back. It does not do it anymore. Another quick note, there has been a couple of comments about the float, including my own. When going over rough terrain the joy stick would pop out of float. For whatever reason my tractor does not do this anymore, I tried to get it to pop out when mowing a few days ago and could not.

 

[pajoube]

Marrt,
Thanks for the update on initial impressions. One of your final comments really hit home with me (jury is still out) regarding not knowing how to fix it and not being able to call the local dealer to deal with it. For many of us who have limited mechanical backgrounds purchasing a tractor with only phone support can be very terrifying. On the other hand having TBN and the many experts helping has taken some of the fears away.
Keep us informed of how this turns out.
PJ

 

[davesisk]

Very good points, you guys, but let me interject my impression. I was previously considering a grey-market Yanmar w/FEL, and would've had to do most repairs myself. In my humble opinion, compared to a more traditional compact tractor, the Power-trac's are actually pretty simple and straight-forward mechanically. There's no complicated transmission or 2-cylinder diesel with proprietary parts, there are pumps, hoses, wheel motors, and cylinders. Again, IMHO, I think the Power-tracs are easier to work on because the mechical design is actually pretty simple. Now, granted everything's a little harder in practice than theory, but I can certainly intuitively understand how it works (and how to fix broken things) without too much difficulty. I knew I'd probably need to do some fixup on the PT1418 (given it's 12 years old), but I truly believe that's easier (at least intuitively) than doing fixup on a Yanmar mini-diesel CUT. I'm not all that mechanically inclined, but I've been able to patch up stuff on the PT without too much difficulty. The hardest part so far has been actually being able to get a wrench onto the hose fittings!!!

Dave

 

[marrt]

I agree Dave that it would be very hard to built a tractor that is actually easier to work on than a PT. The simple mechanical design, and the great TBN resource, gave me a comfort level with this product. My main issue is having the time and patience to work on the tractor, as opposed to the difficulty.

I mentioned that you don’t have traditional dealer support with a PT. That’s not entirely true. I should have said that you don’t have traditional warranty support with a PT. Almost any decent “lawn mower shop” or tractor dealer could easily work on a PT….at your expense. In the end, I decided this was a reasonable tradeoff for the price and capabilities of the PT and I still feel that way.

 

[davesisk]

Marrt:

Good point. That was another factor I considered. I liked the idea of a mini-diesel, but the fact is that any lawnmower repair shop can work on the B&S gas engine, and I'd imagine it's probably considerably cheaper than working on a mini-diesel. Plus, parts are readily available for the engine, and they're cheap too.

You're in a different situation from me, since you've got a new one, you want to make good use of that warranty. For me, any warranty is long gone!

Dave

 

[MChalkley]

marrt - I'm short of time because of I'm gone on another 5-day project the rest of the week, but I'd say you also need a hydraulic pressure gauge, too. At least, for me, it's one of the most useful. It may not be a "save-your-bacon" (as in "machine") type of gauge like the two temp gauges you mentioned, but it sure does help you determine what's going on with the amount of work you're doing, and that can be very important from a safety standpoint. I'll try to come up with some more ways to spend your money later. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

marrt
Congratulations on your purchase.................
It seems to me that with all of your research on tractors that "aren't worth the risk" maybe you should have done a little more research on the PT./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I have a 'chinese' and a 'korean' tractor and haven't had any problems so far. I wish you luck with your Pt. Makes me wonder. Is PT worth the risk???

 

[marrt]

<font color=blue> all of your research on tractors that "aren't worth the risk" </font color=blue>

Oh…when you say “all” you mean the TWO tractors I mentioned…namely, the Jimna as a representative of Chinese tractors in general, and the Kioti? Ok, here’s my comment.

Chinese Tractors: I guess its a function of your expectations. With Chinese tractors, people seem to expect to replace all the fluids first thing, have to replace the battery within three months, have to replace the aluminum washers and starter switch, have to replace the gauges in the first few months, have to replace many of the rubber hoses (I’ve seen “new” hoses on Chinese tractors at Northern that were already showing dry rot), etc…. So, when people find these problems, they aren’t surprised if they did any research before hand. My problem with a battery leak on the PT is “surprising” only because it is so rare on a PT, and therefore, wasn’t expected. If I had bought a Chinese tractor, I wouldn’t have even bothered posting as Chinese battery problems are common. In fact, ALL of the “new” Chinese tractors I saw at Northern (there were 5 assembled) already showed evidence of battery leakage and damage to metal parts (although, to be fair, I don’t know if it was the “tractor’s fault” as I believe these batteries are shipped dry to the US).

Kioti: The only problem I have ever had with the Kioti, other than the absence of key features/requirements like HST (coming soon I hear), a decent MMM, and a quality dealer network (they are working on this), is the price. You pay so close to the Kubota price that you might as well go ahead and get “the real thing.” Sure, you get more features for the money with Kioti, but you loose that advantage if you want to sell it. The same is probably true with PT for that matter. However, the PT has other design advantages that tipped the balance in my particular circumstance.

Is PT worth the risk: For me personally, its way too early to tell. However, the minor problems I have had to date are, in the scheme of things, insignificant. One thing's for sure, whatever the outcome, I will tell it like it is...the good, the bad, and the ugly. I'm not here to be a cheerleader for the brand. I'm here to report my "real world" experiences. That’s how we all learn and become fully informed buyers.